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President Charles Taylor of Nigeria By Kevin Etta Jr.
Certain developments in Nigeria have cast a very dark shadow over an already paling profile of Nigeria nationally and internationally, to the extent that there is need to, once again, ring a note of warning and alarm before it is too late and the unexpected overtakes the unexpecting.
On August 3, 2005 Amnesty International and
Open Society Justice Initiative issued a press release that noted inter
alia: “On Monday 1 August 2005, operatives of Nigeria's State Security
Service (SSS) arrested Steve Omali and Michael Damisa at the Nnamdi
Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja for being in possession of copies
of the Interpol arrest warrant for Charles Taylor issued on 4 December
2003. Charles Taylor is facing charges of war crimes and crimes against
humanity before the Special Court for Sierra Leone.
As at August 8, 2005 the aforementioned persons are still in detention despite the fact the new Attorney General, Mr. Bayo Ojo, is reported to have queried the reason(s) and purport of their detention by the state security authorities.
The above acts by the Nigerian government and others similar represent a new dimension in the Charles Taylor imbroglio and the matter of Nigeria’s domestic and regional security in the West African hub. For starters, the continued granting of asylum to Charles Taylor by the Nigerian government has come up against unified and concerted opposition from the United Nations and other international institutions and bodies due to the fact of Taylor’s indictment for war crimes at the UN’s Special Court in Sierra Leone. International warrants have been issued for Taylor’s arrest and pressure has come upon Nigeria from the United States to hand Taylor over for trial as new evidence has emerged that Taylor has violated the terms of his asylum in Nigeria and continues to meddle in Liberia’s internal politics and coordinate activities capable of destabilizing the West African sub-region from his base in Calabar.
Recently, the Liberian government has separately called for a review of Taylor’s asylum by the Nigerian government, and only last week, the Mano River Union comprising the nations of Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea issued a joint statement calling on the Nigerian government to review the terms of Taylor’s asylum because of the several clear and open breaches of the terms under which it was initiated and his continued threat to the West African sub-region and particularly to Liberia’s internal politics.
Despite all of the foregoing and the existence of open and as yet undisputed allegations of Charles Taylor’s compromising of Nigeria’s security forces and local and state officials overseeing his detention through open bribes and private payroll (all of which have been amply availed to the United Nations et al) Nigeria’s president continues to insist that he will not hand over Charles Taylor to the Special Court in Sierra Leone to answer to charges of war crimes proffered against him. Obasanjo has gone as far as to say that he will only release Taylor to the next democratically elected government of Liberia should a request to that end be forthcoming from them. Currently, Liberia is in the process of organizing the first free and fair elections in her history after years of social and institutional decay, disruption, and dislocation, occasioned by a series of protracted bush wars that have taken their toll on every facet of Liberian life. It is in this context of an emerging process of democratization and national healing within Liberia that Nigeria’s Obasanjo has determined that the shadow of Charles Taylor should again be cast over the country by making it a matter for the next president of Liberia to decide as to whether Taylor will return as bondman or free when he ought not return at all (under Obasanjo’s formula Taylor’s return is invariably guaranteed). The circumstances of this prescription and the delicate nature of Liberia’s internal politics necessarily means that, invariably, the specter of Taylor’s return will have some measure of influence over who becomes the next president of Liberia in a manner that could very well ensure that Taylor does not in fact go to trial in Sierra Leone but continues to exercise his influence over Liberia’s politics and West Africa’s security by proxy.
It is against this background that one is forced to view the actions of the Nigerian government with the utmost concern and disquiet, because over time their position has moved from one of acting to provide an exit path for Taylor out of Liberia (to give peace a chance) to one of actively, premeditatedly, and deliberately shielding an indicted war criminal from answering to charges proffered against him by a competent international legal instrument with jurisdiction, and to which Nigeria is a signatory, in a manner that would seem to suggest that Nigeria is either a sponsor or is associated (or linked) morally or otherwise with the atrocities that Taylor allegedly committed during the period before and after his exile from Liberia.
This disdain for the rule of law is appalling for a nation that is supposed to be in the forefront of establishing peace and security in the West African hub to the extent of Nigeria’s campaign for a seat on the United Nations Security Council. For a nation that has allowed its own internal security to undergo such atrophy that armed robbery is now viewed as an act of God (like a hurricane, earthquake, or tornado) for which there is not only no remedy but neither any strategic government policy to address and no recourse to those affected thereby, the Charles Taylor affair is surely a sign and an omen to the discerning eye that something is imminent and a profoundly resonating socio-political disruption and upheaval is on its way.
It is two weeks today since a street in Calabar on which my sister-in-law lives was attacked by armed robbers. In an operation that lasted 2 hours, the assailants took their time to destroy property and molest those that dwelt in them. It is a wonder that nobody was seriously hurt. However, near monumental losses were recorded. Since then, the little community has tried to restart and rebuild its shattered lifestyle and has attempted to arrange for regular police patrols along their remote streets to allow them get a few hours sleep at night. Unfortunately, the police have been most unhelpful with everyone from the Commissioner to the DPO to this and to that demanding some exorbitant ‘mobilization fee’ before they assume the duty of protecting the citizens of that remote street, which should be the citizens’ free constitutional entitlement by law.
I use the example above only to show what Nigeria has become internally: its own worst enemy. Our government’s handling of matters with telling effect on our national security, such as the recent civil war in Anambra State, and now the Charles Taylor affair, can only serve to compound the feeling of desperation amid the estranged populace. Now that our own core security apparatus, the SSS, is harassing and detaining Nigerian citizens over possession of documents that display what is already public knowledge, to wit: Charles Taylor’s indictment by the UN Special Court in Sierra Leone, what kind of message does such action by our government send to Nigerians? We knew that Charles Taylor had put sections of our security forces on his payroll, but is he also now running our government by proxy?
Nigerians should stop the fanfare and carnival that goes on daily in Abuja and in state capitals around the country and demand some answers. The situation is dire, and if we will continue to exist as one united indivisible nation then some radical changes have to be made in the way and manner our country is run. We cannot continue to be passive. We cannot allow the regime of impunity to continue unabated and unrestrained. If we do, by the time we are awakened from our slumber by the unexpected there may be no Nigeria left for our children – or for us.
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